Employees of Market Basket deserve praise

This editorial is being written as thousands of Market Basket workers rally in Tewksbury, Mass., in support of ousted Chief Executive Officer Arthur T. Demoulas, lovingly known as Artie T.

This editorial is being written as thousands of Market Basket workers rally in Tewksbury, Mass., in support of ousted Chief Executive Officer Arthur T. Demoulas, lovingly known as Artie T.

Arthur T. Demoulas was ousted last month by a faction led by his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas and replaced by Chief Executive Officers Felicia Thornton and James Gooch.

Workers walked off the job last week because they believe the new company leaders will cut back on the relatively generous compensation packages paid to Market Basket employees and destroy the warm relationship Market Basket's 71 stores in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts have developed with customers over decades. Because the new co-CEOs have been silent about their intentions other than making some vague statements that nothing will change, the workers' narrative has been largely accepted by the public.

As a result, the public has rallied to the defense of the workers and is boycotting Market Basket in solidarity with them. We don't have access to the company's books, but this impasse must be costing it millions of dollars each day.

If nothing else comes from this deeply unfortunate dispute, it will long serve as a model of how not to handle corporate communications during a crisis. Not since the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have we seen executives so removed from public sentiment and the reality on the ground.

And here's the reality.

The public is aware the Demoulas family dispute dates back generations and would likely accept the idea that both of today's family factions bear some responsibility for the dysfunction now threatening to destroy a company founded in 1916 by their Greek immigrant grandfather Athanasios "Arthur" Demoulas in Lowell, Mass.

But Market Basket shoppers are fiercely loyal to their local store and employees. Many are on a first name basis with employees and have personal stories about how department managers and workers have helped them out. It's also understood that Market Basket prices are significantly lower than those of other area markets, and when you tack on the additional 4 percent savings promotion taking place this year, that's a lot of savings for working class individuals and families still counting pennies as household incomes remain flat in the wake of the Great Recession.

Market Basket has grown market share using a simple strategy: they're tough on prices from suppliers and great to employees, great to customers.

Many on the Seacoast have friends and family members who are Market Basket employees and we have heard firsthand about the quality training they receive and the respectful way they are treated. It is clearly a good place to work. The average Market Basket manager has been on the job for decades. That sort of reciprocal loyalty between employee and employer harkens back to an age many in America are yearning for, when companies valued their workers as much as they valued profits.

We have also seen with our own eyes the commitment Market Basket has made to employing disabled adults in our community and this again has won the support and admiration of local shoppers.

A mythology has sprung up around Artie T. as workers recount his kindness and concern for them as individuals. Whether these stories are 100 percent accurate is less important than the fact the workers believe them and in turn treat their customers with the same kindness and respect.

It is inspiring to see workers standing up and risking their jobs for a CEO they believe in not because they have been compelled to do so by a union over some pay or benefits grievance but simply because they feel it is the right thing to do. They feel Artie T. has been a good and fair employer and they don't trust the people who forced him out.

At this point it's not clear what will happen next. Arthur T. has made an offer to buy out the stock of opposing relatives and there are reports that outside companies are also interested in purchasing the chain of supermarkets. The Market Basket board of directors has acknowledged receipt of the offers and will consider them.

Whatever the final outcome, we admire the Market Basket workers and support the actions they have taken in support of a CEO they trust and a more secure future for themselves and their families. We hope they are soon able to get back to doing the jobs they love.

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